For the first time in years there is no de facto National Championship game being played in December.

The Southeastern Conference title game will be played this Saturday in Atlanta, and for the past six seasons, the winner of this game has gone on to win the BCS National Championship. But this year’s version between Alabama and Georgia features two teams both with one loss, and whoever wins will have to beat undefeated Notre Dame for the big prize of college football.

“I think the Notre Dame story is the best thing that can happen to college football,” said Gary Danielson, who will call the SEC title game with Verne Lundqvist on CBS. “It’s great for our sport. They can compete and beat either of these teams.”

So if indeed the reign of the SEC comes to an end — and if it falls at the hands of the once-mighty Fighting Irish — it could make many people around the country happy.

“I absolutely think there’s SEC fatigue,” Lundqvist said about the nationwide sentiment. “They have some outstanding football teams, but they got a break when Kansas State and Oregon lost [both were undefeated]. For Alabama and Georgia, one of those two is going to go back [to the national championship], and probably is going to be favored.”

Early odds on the national title game say Alabama will be at least 7 point favorites vs. the Irish while Notre Dame would be a slight choice to beat Georgia.

So onto the field at the Georgia Dome will walk two flawed teams, with Alabama being led by head coach Nick Saban and his two national titles in the past three years, the other by Georgia head coach Mark Richt, whose team had its last real test against Florida on Oct. 27 — a 17-9 win.

“In this game, the one overriding factor for me is, we don’t know how real Georgia is,” Danielson said, noting that the Bulldogs beat Ole Miss, Auburn, Georgia Southern and Georgia Tech down the stretch by a combined score of 162-34. “They had a terrible slump in the middle of the season, when even their own players called the team out.

“They’re coming from the Oct. 27 game into the [SEC] Championship Game and we don’t know if they’ve gotten any better or where they stand,” Danielson continued. “They have great potential, loaded on defense, but lost two receivers [to injury] so we just don’t know.”

Alabama, on the other hand, was supposed to cruise to the conference title yet again, but that ride was sorely interrupted when they lost to Heisman Trophy frontrunner Johnny Manziel and his Texas A&M team on Nov. 11.

“Alabama never was unbeatable, they’ve proven that,” Danielson said. “Nick makes you play NFL style on him, where the quarterback has to make tough throws.”

Those throws will now fall in the hands of junior Aaron Murray, who will probably have to play his best game of his career if Georgia is to get a shot at Notre Dame, to see the bright lights of Sun Life Stadium in Miami and try to keep the reign of the country’s most dominant conference alive.